USDA Update
By Eads USDA Service Center Staff
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
- 2nd Tuesday each month – FSA Farm Loan personnel in Kiowa County FSA Office. CANCELLED FOR DECEMBER.
- December 13 – Last day to return County Committee Ballots
- December 14th - County Committee Election Ballot count
- December 16 – Deadline for CRP grassland initiative for small scale livestock grazing operations.
Disclaimer: Information in this UPDATE is pertinent to Kiowa County FSA only. Producers reading this and that do not have FSA interest in Kiowa County are advised to contact their local FSA Office.
DROUGHT MONITOR
A portion of Kiowa County was designated a D2 – (severe drought) on this week’s Drought Monitor map. Moving to a D2 category at this time of the year does not make producers eligible for any benefits. The D2, D3 or D4 designation has to be present for the county for a number of weeks before producers in the county would be eligible for any Livestock Disaster Program benefits.
Drought updates are regularly published at KiowaCountyPress.net.
REPAYMENT OPTIONS FOR MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS
This past week the LDP rate was quite large for wheat; the average over four days was 42 cents. Producers with Marketing Assistance Loans need to watch these rates closely. If the LDP rate is high - the posted county price is low. Producers who have wheat under loan with FSA can ‘lock-in’ a repayment rate using the posted county price.
Example - Producer obtains a 2016 marketing assistance loan through FSA on 10,000 bushels stored on the farm or in the warehouse. The loan rate for Kiowa County is $3.03 therefore the amount of the loan is $30,300.00 (10,000 x $3.03). After 3 months the producer has negotiated with an elevator to sell the wheat under loan. The producer can ‘lock- in’ a repayment rate on a CCC-697 form for $2.60 which the posted county price for the day. The lock – in rate is good for 60 days. If the ‘lock in rate’ expires and the bushels have not been repaid; the producer will repay the bushels principal plus interest. Producers will incur a market gain which is the difference between the original loan amount and the repayment amount. That amount is added to the $125,000.00 payment limitation for ARC-PLC, LDP, and market gains. This is another example of why producers need to watch the LDP rates, especially those producers with marketing assistance loans.
Turn – around loans for Commodity Certificate Exchange is also a viable option for producers that could potentially exceed the $125,000 payment limitation. I would encourage producers to contact the FSA office for more information on loan repayment options.
To read the terms and conditions of a CCC-697 ‘Marketing Assistance Loan Repayment Rate’ producers can view the form online on the public FSA forms site or visit an FSA office for a copy.
FSA’s Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program provides low-interest financing to producers to build or upgrade storage facilities.
The low-interest funds can be used to build or upgrade permanent facilities to store commodities. Eligible commodities include corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, oats, peanuts, wheat, barley, minor oilseeds harvested as whole grain, pulse crops (lentils, chickpeas and dry peas), hay, honey, renewable biomass, fruits, nuts and vegetables for cold storage facilities, floriculture, hops, maple sap, rye, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, meat and poultry (unprocessed), eggs, and aquaculture (excluding systems that maintain live animals through uptake and discharge of water). Qualified facilities include grain bins, hay barns and cold storage facilities for eligible commodities.
Loans up to $50,000 can be secured by a promissory note/security agreement and some loans between $50,000 and $100,000 will no longer require additional security.
Producers do not need to demonstrate the lack of commercial credit availability to apply. The loans are designed to assist a diverse range of farming operations, including small and mid-sized businesses, new farmers, operations supplying local food and farmers markets, non-traditional farm products, and underserved producers.
To learn more about the FSA Farm Storage Facility Loan, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport or contact your local FSA county office. To find your local FSA county office, visit http://offices.usda.gov.
LDP RATES
Be reminded, producers who have sold wheat can still request an LDP if they haven’t done so through their local FSA office. Contact the local FSA office to learn more.
Producers with grain on the farm can request an LDP or a Marketing Assistance Loan; but not both on the same bushels.
The website to check daily LDP rates is as follows: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/price-support/ldp-rates/index
USDA SERVICE CENTER CONTACT INFORMATION
Telephone 719-438-5851 FSA (Ext 2), NRCS (Ext 3). FSA Fax number: fax2mail 844-332-7501
E-mail individuals firstname.lastname@co.usda.gov (Example firstname.lastname@co.usda.gov, dawna.weirich, charla.ferris, hallie.barlow, marvin.watson, marlin.miller
KIOWA COUNTY FARM LOAN CONTACT INFO – CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT
Telephone 719-336-3437 (ext2) Natalie Bond; natalie.bond@co.usda.gov; Mary Rhoades, mary.rhoades@co.usda.gov
SERVICE CENTER OFFICE HOURS:
Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. By appointment only on Friday.
FSA INFORMATION
For information on programs visit our website located at www.fsa.usda.gov or like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
